Legislation is Critical to Protecting Middle Class Jobs

California Teamsters are celebrating the passage of Assembly Bill 33 (AB 33) out of the Committee on Transportation and calling on all state lawmakers to support the legislation.

California Teamsters are celebrating the passage of Assembly Bill 33 (AB 33) out of the Committee on Transportation and calling on all state lawmakers to support the legislation, which will now go to the full Assembly for consideration. AB 33, authored by Assemblymember Bill Dodd (D-Napa), would require a trained human operator in any autonomous vehicle (AV) used to deliver commercial goods directly to residences or businesses.

“Assembly members on the Committee on Transportation recognized the critical importance of legislation to prevent a chaotic transition to self-driving vehicles and ensure that technology serves workers and communities, not the other way around,” said Peter Finn, Teamsters Western Region International Vice President and President of Joint Council 7. “Lawmakers have a duty to protect Californians from the chaotic instability that Big Tech unleashes on society, and the commonsense guardrails that AB 33 implements will go a long way toward fulfilling that obligation.”

The measure now heads to the Assembly floor for a vote by the full Assembly. AB 33 is supported by the California Teamsters, who represent over 150,000 members in the state. The union has been a vocal critic of plans by tech companies to deploy driverless vehicles without any human oversight.

“California voters are tired of seeing politicians put the interests of Silicon Valley over the concerns of working families,” said Chris Griswold, Teamsters International Vice President At-Large and President of Joint Council 42. “This is an issue that crosses party lines. People on both sides of the aisle want to see reasonable limits on driverless cars and trucks, and they want to see Congress take action to protect jobs and prevent billionaires from steamrolling an entire workforce in its reckless push for profit.”

A new poll by the University of California, Berkeley, Institute of Governmental Studies (IGS) shows that California voters overwhelmingly support efforts to regulate driverless cars and trucks as well as artificial intelligence (AI). The poll, which was conducted in March and April and surveyed 1,044 registered voters, found that 71% of voters support legislation to require a human driver in any vehicle used to deliver commercial goods. The poll also found that voters support legislation to create a state agency to oversee the development and deployment of AI technologies.

Previous efforts to regulate driverless vehicles in California have received broad support from voters and lawmakers from both sides of the aisle. In 2019, the state legislature passed a bill that would have banned the testing of driverless vehicles on public roads. However, the bill was vetoed by Governor Gavin Newsom, who said he was concerned about the potential impact on innovation.

Lawmakers are also considering legislation that would mandate a minimum wage for app-based drivers. A 2022 study by the Economic Policy Institute found that the average app-based driver in California earns less than $12 per hour.

The Teamsters union represents 1.4 million workers in the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico. Visit Teamster.org for more information. Follow us on X @Teamsters and on Facebook at Facebook.com/teamsters.